It is a mentor-pupil relationship forged over a decade and spanning two continents and four countries, one that grew and was cemented by mutual respect, the odd dinner and the hope that one day it would come full circle.

It is not by happenstance that Greivis Vasquez is a Toronto Raptor today. The coach, friend and confidant who saw such promise in a 17-year-old Venezuelan made sure it would happen.

“He’s just a very unique kid, very outgoing, very, very competitive but very respectful,” says Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri.

And Ujiri should know. He’s been tracking Vasquez since he was a prodigy growing up in Caracas.

As part of his desire to see basketball grow throughout the world, and because he wants to give deserving teens every chance to reach their goals, Ujiri was coaching at one of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders camps in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago and Vasquez was a promising young guard on Ujiri’s team.

They struck up a friendship. Ujiri saw unbridled enthusiasm and promise in the teen and when Vasquez was looking for a place where his game could flourish, Ujiri helped to place him at a prep school, Montrose Christian in Rockville, Md., where another friend was the head coach and three of Ujiri’s Nigerian prospects also played.

The friendship blossomed, as did Vasquez.

A prep school teammate of Kevin Durant, Vasquez went on to spend four years at Maryland. He was picked by Memphis in the first round of the 2010 NBA draft (Ujiri and then-Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo tried feverishly to add a pick to take him) and has become a solid NBA guard, now in his fourth season.

All because Ujiri saw something special in the young talent and he was proved right, and because Vasquez was willing to leave his homeland, his friends, his family and thrived thanks to Ujiri’s help, encouragement and reputation as a man who genuinely cares.

“I couldn’t speak any English,” Vasquez recalls of a time in Maryland that was “scary” at the start. “I left my family and for (Ujiri), being from another country, I think we have some similarities.

“The biggest thing is not because he is a GM or in the NBA. The biggest thing is, he’s gone out of his way to help kids all around the world and that’s huge.

“I never knew this guy, and I saw him when I was 17 years old and he was going out of his way to help me. That’s huge . . . that’s a huge part of my life. That’s a big jump going from my country to the States because somebody really actually believed I’d be able to play at a high level. He did. He was one of those guys that really gave me an opportunity.”

A testament to Ujiri’s scouting skills — and that’s where he cut his teeth in what’s turned out to be a tremendous NBA leadership role — is that he saw something special in the teenager, both as a player and a man. One of the attributes Ujiri likes most in players is competitiveness and drive. He says Vasquez has that 10 times over and always has.

“Greivis was such a good kid, such a wonderful young basketball player and a good kid,” Ujiri said. “He had goals in his life that all revolved around basketball.”

And when the chance came for Ujiri to add him in the deal that sent Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings, it was a no-brainer.

“Every now and then when he was in Denver, he used to tell me, ‘I’m going to get you on my team’ and now I’m on his team,” Vasquez said. “It’s been a pleasure. I am very happy in Toronto and hopefully it is a long-term relationship. It’s always good being with someone that really cares about you and knows where you’re coming from.”

One other aspect of Vasquez’s personality is that he indeed cares about where he comes from. With civil unrest rocking his homeland, he’s been writing messages of peace on his shoes for games. It is a small gesture, but an important one.

“I am very proud to be Venezuelan and I can never forget where I came from,” he said. “Venezuela is one country. It is not a divided country, not three different countries within one. We have to find a way to understand that we can’t kill brothers, we can’t kill each other, because we basically have the same blood.

“My message is just, we have to have peace, but not only that we have to try to solve and resolve the problems that we have by communicating better and sitting down with each other.”

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